Believe Different, Live Different

Cultivating Character-David

David is one of those characters that I can relate to well. He reminds me of me. David is a strong willed guy who can be pretty self-sufficient. On numerous occasions, David took control of his summit hike. It did not bode so well for him, but he learned a ton of character a long the way.

David was the youngest in his family. He was not so admired by his siblings. This part of the story sounds similar to Joseph’s story. David spent his days as a shepherd in the field, as well as a song writer. He was often excluded from family discussions, or anything that was going on with family business.

One day Samuel comes to visit David’s father, Jesse. I picture the scene playing out similar to that of Cinderella. Samuel is looking to anoint someone to be the next king. He asks Jesse for all of his sons to join him in the house. Like the wicked step-mom, Jesse presents his finest sons. Samuel asks if he has any others, Jesse says, “oh yea there’s my youngest David.”

In my mind the next scene goes something like this: David walks into the house, probably singing a song out loud that he made up. He dances his way into the kitchen where everyone is standing. I can picture David popping a date in his mouth from off the counter top while playing his air harp. His voice fades as he realizes that he walked in on something. Samuel presents David with the glass slipper that fits perfectly and anoints him to be the next king.

Wait what!? If I were David, I would be like, “what just happened?” It’s not like he was then ushered off to the palace and given a ring and robe. Nope. David returned to the field for shepherding and song writing. So how does the dream of being king even happen?

Cue David’s road of wonder.

After some time, maybe even when the dream of king had almost been lost, the tides change. David is sent with a picnic for his warrior brothers. It is on the battlefield that David is presented with an opportunity that makes him one step closer to his summit. David takes on a huge obstacle named Goliath and brings victory to the nation. With this win, David is then ushered to the palace where he is given fame and the one of the kings daughters to marry.

This is the first glimpse we get to David’s dream of being king. Before David ever stepped foot in the palace, God did some character work on him in the fields. God cultivated the character trait of faith in a bigger God. God taught David how to not rely on his own strength. This is a big character lesson for self-sufficient people. It was in the “simple” sheep fields that he learned to care about responsibility, protect the innocent, rise above his fear, and grow in intimacy with his God.

After Goliath, it might have seemed like David “arrived.” He was in the palace, and now son-in-law to the king. Break out the champagne! Sound the alarm for the party, King David had made it to the palace!

But was he king?

David might have been in the palace, but he was far from being king. After a triumphant entry into his new life, he then spent his days playing his harp for the king. David went through more time of waiting for his dream. He could see his dream, but he was playing the harp. Maybe God let David know that even though he was in the palace, he was not too good to play his harp and serve the king. God cultivated his character.

David went through a seasons of taking the reigns of his path, but God cultivated his character every step of the way. At the time David was given the throne, he was ready. Just because he was given the dream years before the actual throne did not mean he was ready for the dream.

This was another great post Tracee. You are definitely gleaning some good stuff out of your time in the Word. Your post reminded me of a statement I heard years ago “God is more concerned with our character than He is with our comfort.” I think that is such a true statement and goes so perfectly with your post. It is hard not trying to take control of our path and decide how it should go but learning to trust God in this midst of the uncertainty brings such a reward of peace and comfort. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Beautiful as always!

I hear you!! I have also been thinking about how much God wants our trust. He wants to be believed in. I know I feel that with friends. I want ppl to trust me. I want ppl to believe that I want the best for them.

I have realized that I take control in a subtle way. I respond in a way that if I can’t control the path I try to control the amenities of the path. Grr!

the years between david’s anointing and his crowning make me swallow hard. there’s this unspoken expectancy that every dream i have will come to pass if i just work hard enough for it… if i have big enough faith for it…

david could do nothing to speed up the process. because it was exactly that: a process. i forget that all too quickly. our microwave-fast society seems to foster my impatience, and when i can’t just snap my fingers and be where i want to be, it frustrates me.

i wrestle with knowing where the line or the balance is between actively pursuing a dream and trusting God to bring it to pass. david didn’t “make it happen” by storming the castle (ha!), overthrowing saul, insisting he’s the one because of samuel’s anointing, or anything like that. yet he actively took steps in the direction of that dream so when God deemed it time, he was ready.